Farm (town)
The Farm is one of the four factions present in Heroes of Might and Magic I. It is a Might faction, and is generally considered as having the weakest, but cheapest, creatures in the game. The Farm hero is the Knight, an unblemished commander that is able to raise the morale of his units. In the campaign, choosing Lord Ironfist will cause the player to begin all scenarios with Farm castles. This faction also appears in the game's sequel, where it is reimagined as the Knight castle and the vehicle of the Kingdom of Enroth. Structures The linearity of town layouts leaves little room for customization. As a rule of thumb, it is advisable to postpone the erection of mage and thieves' guilds until dwellings are up. Even after this happens, raising the Guild is of secondary importance, as the priority is to purchase troops. Excepting the Mage Guild, which is expensive in each town type, only the cathedral requires precious resources. Still, a significant amount of wood is needed for the first five dwellings, so collecting loose woodpiles and capturing sawmills is at highest importance in the first week. Unlike the other factions, ore is not in high demand for construction as only the Armory is the troop dwelling to require ore. Dwellings *Thatched Hut (produces 12 Peasants per week) *Archery Range (produces 8 Archers per week) *Blacksmith (produces 5 Pikemen per week) *Armory (produces 4 Swordsmen per week) *Jousting Arena (produces 3 Cavalries per week) *Cathedral (produces 2 Paladins per week) Building hierarchy The Thatched Hut is required for constructing all the other subsequent dwellings, but most towns start with it built. The Archery Range is no prerequisite for any building, while the Armory and, respectively, the Blacksmith need the tavern and, respectively, the well. Both the Jousting Arena and the Cathedral require the Armory and the Blacksmith. Troop roster All six of the Farm creatures are human, and with the exception of the lowly peasant, they are trained soldiers. The peasant serves best as a meat shield for more valuable troops. The archer is the only shooting force available to this town, but its slow speed and low stats make it undesirable in the late stages of a scenario. The Pikeman is an unbalanced unit. With a very high defense Skill, but lacking attacking prowess, they are mostly harmless to their opponents. The swordsman combines the Pikeman's survivability with better offense values, but still doesn't meets the standards of its tier. The Farm army gains in speed and stature with the cavalry. They are quick to reach enemy ranks, and usually will be the first to engage the opposing missile troops in close quarters. They are not the best at doing this, however, because of their fragility. Their extremely low price compensates for this. The paladin, if used correctly, can make its fissile nature forgotten.Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest. New World Computing (in English). 1995. The Farm troops are generally considered as the weakest statistically, but they are also the cheapest in the entire game. These units are subject to a rule known as the "Knight rule", which states that higher tier troops in this town have a more effective quality/price ratio than their lowlier counterparts. For example, the Swordsman is more expensive than the Pikeman by only 50 gold and is almost twice as good. The Cavalry again costs only 50 more Gold pieces than the Swordsman, but for this small fee it gains +5 Hit Points, +3 points in attack skill, and a healthy increase in damage. The Paladin is the pinnacle of the "Knight rule", being by far the best deal in the game. *Peasant - slow, fragile walker. Easily the weakest creature in the game and only useful to protect ranged troops. NEVER to be used against ghosts. *Archer - aptly named. Slow, and low in stats. Might slow down the hero, but in the early stages of an scenario it will prove a very important strategical asset. *Pikeman - defensive walker. Highly resistant, but otherwise uninteresting stats make it a weak creature. *Swordsman - balanced, cheap walker. Will prove most useful in the opening stages of a map. *Cavalry - a light and fast mounted force. Unlike its counterparts from latter games of the series, it lacks the Jousting ability. *Paladin - a potent damage dealer, its fragility bring it down. Numerous and cheap, it is the heavy critter of the Farm army. Devastating if blessed. Heroes The hero class associated with the Farm town is the Knight. 9 individuals are members of this class, and they are all human men, with the exception of Maximus, and possibly Tyro. The Knights are a Might-based class, meaning they have a tendency of improving their attack and defense skills when leveling-up, and that they start without a spellbook. Knights normally begin scenarios with 2 points invested in the Defense Skill, while the other three primary skills start with only one point. Like the other classes in the game, Knights have a special ability: they provide a +1 boost to the Morale of all their units, regardless of these troops' alignment. While it might not seem like much, the morale boost is beneficial in all stages of the game, potentially allowing the knight's troops to attack the enemy repeatedly or mix 3 alignments without fear of troops freezing in panic. In lore, the Knights are viewed as the loyal followers of Morglin Ironfist, with many of them having served their lord in VARN-4. Most of the Knights' names and appearances are based on NPCs that had previously appeared in the first five Might and Magic RPGs,Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum. New World Computing (in English), 1986.Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World. New World Computing (in English), 1988.Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra. New World Computing (in English), 1991.Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen. New World Computing (in English), 1992.Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen. New World Computing (in English), 1994. but this was mostly because, at the time, New World Computing weren't intending to set Heroes of Might and Magic in the same universe and didn't bothered to create new designs. It is considered however that the Heroes and Might and Magic characters are different. With the exception of Arturius, all the other 8 Knights have been transferred to Heroes II. Gallery FarmCastle.jpg|Farm castle on the adventure map FarmTown.jpg|Farm town on the adventure map Sources ru:Ферма (фракция) Category:Heroes I factions